Tip-off // Washburn treks to Tahlequah, Oklahoma on Thursday for a MIAA tilt with Northeastern State at 5:30 p.m. The Ichabods are looking to return to winning form after a tough loss last Saturday to finish the week at 1-1 and head coach Ron McHenry remains one victory shy of career-win No. 400.

This will be the 10th all-time meeting as WU leads the series 5-4 including wins in its last two outings. Washburn is 2-2 at NSU Arena.

Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (45 total, 3.2/gm) and minutes (31.4/game) ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.4 ppg) and second in rebounds (67 total, 4.8/gm) ... Lane has scored double-digit points six times and distributed three more assists on seven occasions.

• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg) ... has reached double-figure scoring seven times this season including a career-best 20 points on Nov. 14 ... she is second in steals (19) and assists (37 total, 2.6/gm) ... Phelan has converted on 19 of 56 chances from 3-point range (.339) ... she finished 2016 among the conference leaders in assists (14th), 3FG made (17th) and 3FG attempts (13th).

• Senior forward Alyxis Bowens leads the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) ... on Jan. 2 tied a career-high when she scored 28 points against Peru State ... has tallied double-digits in seven of the last eight games ... also paces WU in rebounds (82 total, 5.9/gm), blocks (21) and steals (21).

• Senior guard Jharian Bowen has 10.5 ppg and has reached double-figure points eight times including a career-high of 20 against Peru State on Jan. 2 ... she leads WU in 3-pointers made and attempts (23 of 69) and is 33.3 percent from behind the arc ... Bowen has also completed 80 percent of chances from the line (24 of 30).

• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 8.4 points, 1.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds ... she leads Washburn in FT attempts (33) and just under 80 percent (78.8) from the charity stripe ... Dohnalek has reached double-digit scoring six times and is averaging 12.3 ppg over the course of the last three contests.

Team Quick Facts
• The Ichabods are 2-2 on the road this season.

• Washburn has tip-off games with only two variations of a starting five. 

• The Ichabods have benefited from a balance offense having two or more double-figure scorers in 13 of its 14 games with the breakdown as follows: four games with two players; five games with three players and four games with four players.

• Collectively, WU shoots .449 from the floor with a 3PT% of .305 compared to respective opponent shooting numbers of .347 and .311.

• The Ichabod have made more trips to the line than WU (279-216) and consequently have converted on more attempts (196-155) ... WU is shooting .689 while opponents .703.

• The Ichabods average just under 70 points/game (69.4) while they surrender around 57 per night (57.4).

• This season Washburn has outscored opponents by an average of +3.8 points/quarter. 

• The last time a Ron McHenry coached team went to 2-2 to start was the 2013-14 season.

Last Season // Washburn's 2015-16 campaign opened with three consecutive wins and a 4-2 mark through the first six games ... it closed the season 15-14 overall and finished tied for sixth in the MIAA at 11-11 ... The Ichabods entered the MIAA Tournament as the No. 7-seed and lost in the first round to No. 10-seed Central Missouri, 74-70 ... Erika Lane was named All-MIAA Third Team while Felisha Gibbs and Alyxis Bowens garnered Honorable Mention nods.

MIAA Preseason Poll // Emporia State topped the preseason poll with 12 first-place votes and 168 total points ...  Pittsburg State followed with 156 points and two first-place votes ... Ichabods were third (132) ...  Fort Hays State was forth (127) and Missouri Western fifth (124) -- full poll on page 6 of the attached game notes.

Washburn on the Radio // Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero calling the action. Games will also be streamed live on wusports.com by following the listen live links on the women's schedule page.

New Faces // Washburn has five new players on its 2016 roster, including one NCAA Division I transfer, one junior college transfer and three true freshmen ... Charisma Alexander joins the Ichabods after one season at Division I Stephen F. Austin. Alexander averaged 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 25.4 minutes while appearing in all 31 games for the LadyJacks and helping them win the Southland Conference championship ... Macy Myers joins Washburn following two seasons with Otero Junior College where she finished her career averaging 19 points/game for the Trojans ... the crop of true freshmen are made up of Cara Donley, Reagan Phelan and Jo Roepke ... Donley was multi-sport letter winner at both Abilene and Scared Heart HS where she earned various individual accolades ... Phelan was also a multi-sport athlete during her time at Central Plains where she was named the 2015-16 KBCA Miss Kansas Basketball ... Roepke played for Valley Heights where she lettered in basketball, volleyball and track and was the 2016 Kansas 2A long jump champion.

Monthly Breakdown // Under Ron McHenry, Washburn has put together 25 perfect months, including a career-best 10-0 mark in February of the 2001-02 season. Aside from his first season, McHenry has never lost more than four games during January ... a month-by-month breakdown of the Ichabods under Coach McHenry is available in the attached game notes.

Where Are They From? // Washburn's 2016-17 roster has a wide mix of hometowns geographically, with its 13 players hailing from two countries (United States, France and Denmark) and three different states within the US ... There are eight players from Kansas (Jharian Bowen, Alyxis Bowens, Erika Lane, Reagan Phelan, Jo Roepke, Cara Donley and Madison and Makayla Vargo) ... Colorado (Macy Myers), Missouri (Erin Dohnalek) and Texas (Charisma Alexander) are the other US states represented on WU's roster ... traveling abroad, Cindy Demosthene (France) and Julie Ravn (Denmark) are international players on the Ichabods' squad.

The Coach // Washburn's Ron McHenry is in his 17th season with the Ichabods ... during his first 16 season McHenry has amassed a 389-108 record ... was named the fifth coach in program-history in 2000 ... his .783 winning percentage to start the 2016-17 season is the best by any coach to lead the Ichabods/Lady Blues ... the mark is also 17th-best for active NCAA women's basketball coaches across all divisions and 23rd all-time ... amongst the Division II ranks, McHenry's winning percentage is fourth-best for active coaches and fifth-best all-time, while his 389 victories to open the season placed him 23rd for active coaches in Division II ... McHenry has 12 seasons with 20 or more wins and three seasons topping 30 ... in his first 16 years, McHenry has  coached 21 All-American selections, 42 All-MIAA nominees and one WNBA draft pick ... during the 2004-05 campaign McHenry steered the program to an NCAA Division II title ... McHenry has a combined 15 MIAA regular-season and tournament championships ... the Ichabod bench boss entered the season 11 wins shy of 400 ... he's now one away from the milestone ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.

Scouting the RiverHawks
• Northeastern State is 6-8 overall and 2-4 against league opponents.

• At home, NSU is 2-3 this season with an all-time record of 2-2 against WU.

• NSU is coming off a 66-62 loss to Lincoln on road. 

• As a team, Northeastern State is shooting .403 from the field and .361 from 3-point range while coverting 71.8 percent of free throws.

• The scoring margin for the RiverHawks during its first 14 games is -1.3.

• NSU is led by Rylie Torrey (18.3 ppg, 1.9 apg, 2.5 rpg).

• Cailyn Long (93.0) and Rylie Torrey (87.0) are both shooting over 80 percent from the line with at least 20 chances, while Mary Jane Buschmann is third-best at 72.2.

Last Time Out // Washburn 85, Northeastern State 27 • Feb. 17, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball held Northeastern State to single digits through nearly three quarters, rolling to an 85-27 win on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at Lee Arena ... WU (14-11, 10-9 MIAA) scored the first 20 points of the game, not allowing a RiverHawk basket until the 48 second mark of the first quarter, and the Ichabods allowed only four points in the second and third quarters, leading 41-7 at halftime ... NSU nearly matched the Ichabods scoring in the fourth quarter (21-16), but WU's 50-plus scoring margin held to the end.  In addition to WU's 20-0 run to open the game, the Ichabods had unanswered scoring bursts of seven, 19, 13 and nine over the final three quarters ... The 27 points is the fewest Washburn has ever allowed in an MIAA contest, and is just four points over the MIAA record for fewest points in a conference game.  WU also just missed a 60-rebounding effort with a season-high 59 boards.  The Ichabod defense stifled the RiverHawks throughout the night, limiting NSU to a 17.2 percent field goal percentage and just a 4-of-29 effort from beyond the arc ... Five Ichabods scored in double-digits, led by Haley Pfau who was 6-of-8 from long range and finished with 20 points.  Jharian Bowen reached double-digits for the third consecutive game and was second on the team with 19 points while Alyxis Bowens finished with 15 points and Felisha Gibbs and Erin Dohnalek each had 10.  It is was the second time this season Washburn has had five players score in double-digits, with the previous time occurring on Jan. 4 against Lincoln ... Bowens had her first career double-double on the night by grabbing 10 rebounds in addition to her scoring total, matching Jayna Smith for the team-lead on the boards.  Erin Dohnalek dished out a career-high seven assists as well.

'Bods History // The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 885-399-1 all-time ... the program has seen 23 seasons with at least 20 wins and had made 17 trips to the NCAA Division II Championship ... in 2004-05 Washburn won the NCAA Division II Championship and finished the season 35-2.

Before game day, this happened
• 1896 - The first x-ray photo in the United States is provided by Dr. Henry Smith of Davidson, NC

• 1906 - Football rules committee legalizes forward pass

• 1920 - Sides agree to the annual drafting of baseball players from minor leagues to be done in inverse order of the final standings

• 1921 - Kenesaw Mountain Landis becomes the first commissoner of baseball

• 1946 - NFL champs gives permission to Cleveland Rams to move to Los Angeles.

• 1958 - Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals sets NBA scoring record at 11,770 points - two years later becomes first player in league-history to reach 15,000 points

• 1966 - Legend Red Auerbach wins his 1,000th game as coach of the Boston Celtics

• 1966 - "Batman" starring Adam West debuts on ABC